GiftCards.com
Online gift card retailer company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GiftCards.com is an online gift-card retailer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1][2] The company sells gift cards for thousands of different large corporate retailers and small businesses[3] including Vanillagifts.com, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Sephora, Coach, Amazon.com, and others.[4][5][6] The company also offers prepaid Visa and MasterCard gift cards. GiftCards.com is considered the largest online gift card retailer[1][7][8] and has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list multiple times (most recently in 2015).[9][10] The company is currently owned by Blackhawk Network Holdings after its purchase of the retailer in 2016
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Blackhawk Network (CEO) |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Gift cards |
| Parent | Blackhawk Network Holdings (2016–present) |
| Website | Official Website |
.[11]
History
In 1999, GiftCards.com was founded by Jason Wolfe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as DirectCertificate.com.[1][12] In this early iteration, the company sold paper gift certificates for merchants instead of plastic gift cards.[12] In 2003, Wolfe purchased the GiftCards.com domain name for $40,000. In 2006, Wolfe sold DirectCertificates.com to Minnesota-based, Digital River. He purchased the company back in 2007 and eventually rebranded it as GiftCards.com in 2008.[3][13] By 2009, it had $44 million in sales.[7]
The company operates out of a suburban Pittsburgh facility that prints gift cards directly and sends them to clients.[3][14] In 2010, GiftCards.com had 60 employees and had 100 employees by 2013.[15] By 2014, the company had over $100 million in annual sales[16] with 12 issued patents and 45 pending.[3] It also entered into a partnership with CashStar, allowing them to sell gift cards for over 50 different retailers.[5] In 2015, the company sold its 6 millionth gift card.[2]
In 2016, Blackhawk Network Holdings announced the purchase of GiftCards.com.[11] The purchase was confirmed by GiftCards.com in a press release, announcing the value of the purchase at $120 million.[17]
Products
GiftCards.com offers gift cards from around 500,000 different large and small businesses throughout the United States.[3][14] Major gift card providers include Best Buy, Sephora, Yankee Candle, Amazon.com, Pottery Barn, Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, Gap, Macy's, and Bloomingdale's among many others.[3][4][5][6] The company also provides Visa and MasterCard gift cards.[1] For an added fee, customers can personalize their gift cards with photos, text, or other graphics.[15] All gift cards are printed at the GiftCards.com facility in suburban Pittsburgh.[3][14]